Cheap Gas, More Driving Make 2016 an Especially Deadly Year on U.S. Streets
The number of traffic deaths in America each year is so staggering, it almost defies comprehension -- about 35,000 lives lost is the norm. But 2016 is shaping up to be even worse.
August 26, 2016
Seattle Doesn’t Need a Highway on Top of Its New Underground Highway
The construction of Seattle's budget-busting underground waterfront highway has been a great reminder of why car-based urban megaprojects are such a bad idea.
August 25, 2016
The Stress of Navigating Unwalkable Bus Stops With a Wheelchair
Pedestrian access to transit is important. A recent study by TransitCenter found that people who use transit most often tend to walk to the bus or train. But as our "Sorriest Bus Stop in America" contest highlighted, there are some very serious challenges on this front in American cities.
August 24, 2016
When Cities Force Developers to Widen Roads, Everyone Loses
It's a common practice for cities to make developers widen a street when they put up a new building. The thinking is that development creates car trips that must be accommodated with more asphalt.
August 23, 2016
Earth to U.S. DOT: Streets Succeed When They Do More Than Move Cars
What makes a street successful?
August 23, 2016
Stark Divisions Between Dems and GOP on Climate Impacts of Transportation
How polarized are the two political parties on key questions about transportation policy and climate change? As you can imagine, the answer is "very."
August 23, 2016
Carless Renters Forced to Pay $440 Million a Year for Parking They Don’t Use
Many residents of American cities can't escape the high cost of parking, even if they don't own cars. Thanks to policies like mandatory parking requirements and the practice of "bundling" parking with housing, carless renters pay $440 million each year for parking they don't use, according to a new study by C.J. Gabbe and Gregory Pierce in the journal Housing Policy Debate.
August 19, 2016
An American Take on the “Bus Stop of the Future”
Four years ago, the regional transit agency in Paris, RATP, set out to create the "bus stop of the future." This bus stop would be designed to give riders and even passersby a comfortable place to relax. In addition to a sleek shelter, it featured a bike-share station, a library, and snacks and coffee.
August 19, 2016
State DOTs to Feds: We Don’t Want to Reveal Our Impact on Climate Change
Every year state DOTs receive tens of billions of dollars in transportation funds from the federal government. By and large, they can do whatever they want with the money, which in most states means wasting enormous sums on pork-laden highway projects. Now that U.S. DOT might impose some measure of accountability on how states use these funds, of course the states are fighting to keep their spending habits as opaque as possible.
August 18, 2016
Wisconsin’s Anti-Urban Policies Fed Milwaukee’s Notorious Racial Segregation
After Milwaukee police shot and killed 23-year-old Sylville Smith, setting off a violent confrontation between protesters and police in the predominantly black neighborhood of Sherman Park last weekend, news outlets looked at how the region's history of discrimination set the stage for an uprising.
August 18, 2016